CHICAGO — Before every home contest, the Chicago Bears wave a huge banner across Soldier Field that pumps up the “Four Phases” of the game: Offense, defense, special teams and the crowd.

Bears fans will be Bears fans. They’ll come out in droves, at home and on the road. So the fourth phase was pretty much in place when Marc Trestman took over for Lovie Smith in the offseason, and cleaned the coaching cupboard, bringing in all of his own guys for the revamping process.

As for the other three phases, here is one man’s view after training camp and four preseason game:

The tight end position was a joke: In came the funniest new Bear — Martellus Bennett — who also could be the best big tight end this team has had since Emery Moorehead.

And as for running back Matt Forte — well, he wasn’t laughing when he was driven out of the passing game last year, and was stuck behind a line that couldn’t get out of each other’s way, let alone block the opposition. Forte is now primed to be the team’s featured back behind an up-and-coming line, as well as an important piece to the aerial attack that is supposed to be as dangerous as ever.

The result so far has been a smooth-running machine, one in which Forte has averaged 9.9 yards per carry, while toting the ball 15 times in bits and pieces of three preseason games. No one — save Forte himself — is expecting that kind of average throughout the year, but everybody has already seen signs of what this offense could do.

“Initially we just want to start out being efficient, taking care of the ball, and have balance in our attack,” said Trestman, who has said and done all the right things so far. “We think we’ve got a great upside here, and that could evolve starting on Sunday. We’re hoping it does.”

The players seem to agree, at least the most important one.

“I think Trest (Trestman) does a good job of putting ownership on everybody on the offense and making sure that everyone’s accountable,” Cutler said. “I’m just kind of a piece of the puzzle.

“In the new offense and where we’re at right now, I think this is probably the most comfortable I’ve felt in a new offense.”

And if the line, which includes rookies Kyle Long and Jordan Mills anchoring the right side, can do its job, maybe Cutler will feel comfortable in the pocket as well. That, along with Forte’s overall production, will be the key to the whole season.

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‘D’ picks right up

That’s not to say the defense doesn’t have a very important job to do as well. For the offense to pick up the slack, and turn this team into a contender, the defense has to be as good or better than it has been in recent history.

That is a tall order.

But for the most part, the Bears defense was in place for new coordinator Mel Tucker. Well, except for the little subtraction of one Brian Urlacher and his linebacker mate Nick Roach.

General manager Phil Emery and Trestman’s crew quickly brought in a pair of veterans to fill the gaps (D.J. Williams and Joe Anderson) and drafted two rookies (Jon Bostic and Khaseem Greene). Williams missed most of the preseason with a calf injury, and boy did Bostic step up.

So much so that even with Williams healthy this week and starting, it was a close call between the 10th-year veteran brought in from the Broncos and the second-round draft pick out of Florida who returned an interception for a touchdown in his first preseason game as a Bear.

Even without Williams and Urlacher, the Bears’ D had a plus-5 turnover ratio in the preseason, with nine interceptions from nine different defenders. And the rookies shined as Greene led the Bears in preseason tackles (17) while Bostic was second (13).

With those kinds of numbers, a little offensive surge would go a long way.

Specialists survive

Dave Toub was the best special teams’ coach in the league, and his departure in the offseason will mean a dip in production from that phase. Right? Wrong.

Devin Hester has been lifted from his wide-receiver role, and will focus strictly on the return game. That’s a big plus for this group, who should get four return touchdowns this year, three from Hester.

As for the rest, Joe DeCamillas is a good replacement for Toub, and he has a lot to work with as Emery and Trestman went special-teams heavy on the final 53-man roster. Nine rookies on the list will all chip in in some way on special teams, which always raises questions. But this is a sound group that should not cost the team any games this season.

So as long as Trestman’s crew takes care of its three phases, this team is playoff-bound.

Prediction time

The Bears will finish the season 10-6, but this time it will be good enough to get them into the playoffs. There’s a good chance they’ll be one-and-done, but they may just lay the groundwork for better things to come.

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The NFC North will once again be ruled by Green Bay, but not by much, as the Packers finish 11-5. After the Bears, it will be the 9-7 Vikings and the 5-11 Lions.

While I don’t buy into the Seattle hype, I do see the Seahawks getting as far as the NFC Championship, where they will fall.

I’m picking the Broncos to win the Super Bowl, and just so you know, I made that call long before Thursday night’s offensive explosion from Peyton Manning.

As for the Bears, if everything clicks, the stars align, and Trestman is the offensive guru everybody says he is, that Super Bowl-type of magic could come the Bears’ way as early as 2014.